[PLAINS 3]

The two open their eyes to the rush of the wind tossing their hair like the ocean of grass surrounding them.

It’s only a brief lapse of consciousness for the two as they jointly sit up and turn to the middle of them, where Masaru’s briefcase awaits.

“Okay, why did you ask for it again?” Valerie asks, her look doing little to dissuade Masaru from concluding that he’s a moron… but the weird of the briefcase suggests differently.

“I just have to see,” he says, resting the briefcase on his lap as he grasps the latches. “If I lost my papers, and that carried over…” he says, clicking them back and opening the case.

Inside the case, a big red flashlight presents itself with a warm shine from the quickly setting sun.

Stunned, Valerie can only stare at it for a moment before finally reaching over and grabbing it from the case.

She brushes her thumb over the gleaming finish of the torch as if it were the knuckles of a dear friend.

“I don’t understand any of this,” she admits, pushing her face into the flashlight as her head droops to her knees.

Masaru says nothing for a moment, struggling to search for anything that would be appropriate.

“I’m sorry,” Masaru says, “I don’t get it either. It seems like some rules are solid here, and others have some kind of secret to them,” he explains.

Her lips purse as she stares down at the flashlight. Masaru can hardly believe how cute she is when her guard’s down.

“You’re not supposed to be able to take another person’s memento with you. You’re supposed to do this by yourself,” she explains.

Masaru squints. “Who told you that?”

The wind blows as her eyes sharpen. “Kenji. He’s been here the longest by far.”

“Really? Who’s the newest?”

“Before you… it was me,” she says.

Masaru’s head notches back. “Not Yuna?”

She shakes her head. “Despite her never going out she just keeps to herself. It’s like she’s not even thinking about what it all means,” she explains.

“Or maybe she figured it out first,” Masaru wonders.

Glancing over, he realizes she’s been watching him. Her cerulean blue gaze, when trained on him, gives Masaru a decisively hunted feeling— as though she’s entitled to a response. “How did you figure it out?” she asks.

He smirks. “What, my briefcase?”

“Yeah,” she says, holding her gaze on him while she slides the flashlight back inside.

Masaru scratches the back of his neck as he turns away coolly. “You like that trick? I realized it when the pages disappeared from it between areas. I think whatever I put in here can come along with us.”

He turns back to check her expression, but it’s still neutral, calm, and entirely focused on his eyes.

“That was smart, Masaru,” she says. “Like, not even a ‘smart’ person would have even noticed that… and you were brave enough to try it. I’m sure that wasn’t easy since you barely know us…” Finally her gaze flickers as she turns away a little. “If anyone’s getting out of this shit, it’s going to be you.”

His blood feels light as the sun begins to arch over the back of the hill.

He smiles back. “We’re getting out of this together.”

She scoffs as she turns to look at the setting sun. “No. I don’t know if I’m going to figure any of this out.”

Masaru’s heart begins pounding, and for once it’s not because of The Enemy.

Reaching forward, he clasps one of her hands in his own. “Valerie.”

She scoffs again. “We’re about to run out of time.”

“It’s fine. The Knight can wait.”

Valerie blinks at him like he has a flashing neon sign of a donkey on his head.

“We’re just going to… wait?” she asks, wide eyed.

He shakes his head. “We’ll get to it once I’m done.”

“With what?”

As the sun dips over the far side of the hill, the dimming light gives her eyes a purplish hue.

“Telling you that, I won’t be leaving here if it’s not with you.”

“Nice,” he tells himself. “Smooth as hell.”

Valerie stares at him with a blank look, but she’s unable to suppress the rising flush that appears on her face. She coughs, covering her face for a moment to keep spit from getting on Masaru.

“Nice,” Masaru corrects in his mind “A little too smooth maybe.”

“That’s…” Valerie clears her throat as she avoids the sear of his gaze. “That’s kind of you, Mister Abe. Thank you.”

He grins, suppresses the urge to embrace her, and gets to his feet.

“Come on,” he says, presenting his hand to her to pull her up.

She smiles, reaches for it, and her hand passes right through.

The sun is almost gone as the two pause, look at each other, and share a laugh.

“Idiot,” Valerie scoffs.

“Hey, you fell for it, too.”

She gets up and brushes herself off with a smirk. “You tricked me.”

“Made you believe in miracles for a second?” he asks with a raised brow.

“You are so corny,” she responds before looking down to the rocks at the base of the hill. “Looks like we missed our chance. No way we’ll get down there in time.”

Masaru nods in the opposite direction: up the hill. “Well, let’s find out then, shall we?” he says as he starts up the slope. “Might as well learn something new since we’re here.”

Valerie sighs, and follows along with him. “I don’t know what you’re expecting to see up there. Probably more forest and grass.”

He shrugs. “Right, but have you ever made sure?”

She contorts with irritation. “What, you saying I miss obvious details or something?”

“You said it, not me,” Masaru reminds. “But everyone misses obvious details when they’re stressed. To win a fight like this we need to be relaxed first.”

Her brow raised, Valerie hums as they reach the top of the hill.

And they do find something other than forest and grass.

The two stare down the other side of the long rolling hill with looks of pure stupefaction.

They watch the column of smoke rise up from below like a signal to them— a reassurance that this world still has something to teach them.

“Is that…” Masaru fails to push out the rest of the words.

“A town.” Valerie notes incredulously.

Sure enough, a small, fantasy hamlet stands peaceful and presentable at the base of the hill. They could have fought the Knight here a hundred times without expending the extra effort to crest the hill and see the other side.

The house with a lit chimney also has a gentle glow of what seems to be a fire emitting from over its windowsill.

“Awesome!” Masaru laughs out as he starts down with her.

No sooner do the two take their first steps do they hear the unmistakable nether-marked neigh of a certain someone’s warhorse right behind them.